Terrorism in India


YearNumber of
incidents		DeathsInjuries
2017966465702
20161,025467788
2015884387649
2014860490776
2013694467771
2012611264651
2011645499730
2010663812660
2009672774854
20085348241,759
20071496261,187
20061677222,138
20051464661,216
2004108334949
20031964721,183
20021845991,186
20012346601,144
2000180671761
1999112469591
199861398411
19971938531,416
1996213569952
1995179361616
1994107389405
1993425251,564
19922371,152917
19913391,1131,326
19903499071,042
1989324874769
19883589661,033
1987166506429
198696340163
1985395179
1984159195364
19834759217
19821364102
1981162412
1980101713
1979203119
1978000
1977100
1976100
1975140
1974000
1973000
1972100
1971000
1970000
Total12,00219,86630,544

Terrorism in India, according to the Ministry of Home Affairs, poses a significant threat to the people of India. Compared to other countries, India faces a wide range of terror groups. Terrorism found in India includes Islamist terrorism, ultranationalist terrorism, and left-wing terrorism. India is one of the countries most impacted by terrorism.
A common definition of terrorism is the systematic use or threatened use of violence to intimidate a population or government for political, religious, or ideological goals.
In 2022, India ranked 13th on the Global Terrorism Index. India continues to face a number of terror attacks from Islamist separatist groups in Kashmir, Sikh separatists in Punjab, and secessionist groups in Assam. The regions with long term :terrorist activities have been Jammu and Kashmir, east-central and south-central India and the Seven Sister States. In August 2008, National Security Advisor M K Narayanan said that as many as 800 terrorist cells are operating in the country. As of 2013, 205 of the country's 608 districts were affected by terrorist activity. Terror attacks caused 231 civilian deaths in 2012 in India, compared to 11,098 terror-caused deaths worldwide, according to the State Department of the United States; or about 2% of global terror fatalities while it accounts for 17.5% of the global population.
Reports have alleged and implicated terrorism in India to be sponsored by Pakistan. In July 2016, the Government of India released data on a string of terror strikes in India since 2005 that claimed 707 lives and left over 3,200 injured.

Definition

The 8th report on terrorism in India published in 2008 defined terrorism as the peacetime equivalent of war crime. An act of terror in India includes any intentional act of violence that causes death, injury or property damage, induces fear, and is targeted against any group of people identified by their political, philosophical, ideological, racial, ethnic, religious or any other nature. This description is similar to one provided by the United Nations' in 2000.
The Indian government uses the following working definition of terrorism, same as one widely used by Western nations as well as the United Nations, proposed by Schmid and Jongman in 1988.
India subdivides terrorism into four major groups:
  1. Ethno-nationalist terrorism – This form of terror focuses either on creating a separate State within India or independent of India or in a neighboring country, or on emphasising the views/response of one ethnic group against another. Violent Tamil Nationalist groups from India to address the condition of Tamils in Sri Lanka, as well as insurgent tribal groups in North East India are examples of ethno-nationalist terrorist activities.
  2. Religious terrorism – This form of terror focuses on religious imperatives, a presumed duty or in solidarity for a specific religious group, against one or more religious groups. The Mumbai 26/11 terror attack in 2008 from an Islamist group in Pakistan is an example of religious terrorism in India. The examples are Hindutva terrorism, Islamic terrorism, Right-wing terrorism, etc
  3. Left-wing terrorism – This form of terror focuses on economic ideology, where all the existing socio-political structures are seen to be economically exploitative in character and a revolutionary change through violent means is essential. The ideology of Marx, Engel, Mao, Lenin and others is considered as the only valid economic path. Maoist violence in Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh are examples of left wing terrorism in India.
  4. Narcoterrorism – This form of terror focuses on creating illegal narcotics traffic zones. Drug violence in northwest India is an example of narco-terrorism in India.

    Terror groups operating in India

SATP has listed 180 terrorist groups that have operated within India over the last 20 years, many of them co-listed as transnational terror networks operating in or from neighboring South Asian countries such as Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan. Of these, 38 are on the current list of terrorist organisations banned by India under its First Schedule of the UA Act, 1967. As of 2012, many of these were also listed and banned by the United States and European Union.

Chronology of major incidents

List of attacks

Andhra Pradesh

2000 Church bombings of South India

The 2000 Church bombings refers to the serial bombings of churches in the southern Indian states of Karnataka, Goa and Andhra Pradesh by the Islamist extremist group Deendar Anjuman in the year 2000. On 21 May 2000, a Christian congregation at Machilipatnam, Andhra Pradesh was bombed. On 8 July 2000, two churches were bombed in Andhra Pradesh, Gewett Memorial Baptist Church in Ongole and the Mother Vannini Catholic Church in Tadepalligudem town. The blast in the Ongole church injured three persons.

Kurnool train crash

A passenger train derailed in Kurnool district in Andhra Pradesh, on 21 December 2002. During the repair, it was discovered that one of the railway tracks had been deliberately severed, which caused the derailment. Later reports agreed that the crash was caused by sabotage. Thirteen months after the attack, police in Hyderabad arrested a man named Syed Abdul Nayeem, a Lashkar-e-Taiba activist, who failed a 'brainwave fingerprinting test' after being questioned by Indian police. He was charged both in this case and a bombing which killed two people in the Sai Baba Temple.

Assam

After Nagaland, Assam is the most volatile state in the region. Beginning in 1979, the indigenous people of Assam demanded that the illegal immigrants who had emigrated from Bangladesh to Assam be detected and deported. The movement led by the All Assam Students Union began non-violently with satyagraha, boycotts, picketing, and courting arrests.
Those protesting frequently came under police action. In 1983 an election was conducted, which was opposed by the movement leaders. The election led to widespread violence. The movement finally ended after the movement leaders signed an agreement with the central government on 15 August 1985.
Under the provisions of this accord, anyone who entered the state illegally between January 1966 and March 1971 was allowed to remain but was disenfranchised for ten years, while those who entered after 1971 faced expulsion. A November 1985 amendment to the Indian citizenship law allows non-citizens who entered Assam between 1961 and 1971 to have all the rights of citizenship except the right to vote for ten years.
New Delhi also gave special administration autonomy to the Bodos in the state. However, the Bodos demanded a separate Bodoland, which led to a clash between the Bengalis, the Bodos, and the Indian military resulting in hundreds of deaths.
Several organisations advocate the independence of Assam. The most prominent of these is the United Liberation Front of Asom. Formed in 1979, the ULFA has two main goals: the independence of Assam and the establishment of a socialist government.
The ULFA has carried out several terrorist attacks in the region targeting the Indian Military and non-combatants. The group assassinates political opponents, attacks police and other security forces, blasts railroad tracks, and attacks other infrastructure facilities. The ULFA is believed to have strong links with the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland , Maoists, and the Naxalites.
It is also believed that they carry out most of their operations from the Kingdom of Bhutan. Because of ULFA's increased visibility, the Indian government outlawed the group in 1986 and declared Assam a troubled area. Under pressure from New Delhi, Bhutan carried out a massive operation to drive out the ULFA militants from its territory.
Backed by the Indian Army, Thimphu was successful in killing more than a thousand terrorists and extraditing many more to India while sustaining only 120 casualties. The Indian military undertook several successful operations aimed at countering future ULFA terrorist attacks, but the ULFA continues to be active in the region. In 2004, the ULFA targeted a public school in Assam, killing 19 children and 5 adults.
Assam remains the only state in the northeast where terrorism is still a major issue. On 18 September 2005, a soldier was killed in Jiribam, Manipur, near the Manipur-Assam border, by members of the ULFA. On 14 March 2011, Bodo militants of the Ranjan Daimary-led faction ambushed patrolling troops of BSF when on their way from Bangladoba in the Chirang district of Assam to Ultapani in Kokrajhar killing 8 jawans.
On 5 August 2016, a terrorist attack was reported in the market area of Balajan Tinali of the city of Kokrajhar that resulted in the death of 14 civilians and injuries to 15 others. Three terrorists, suspected to be Bodo militants, were reported to have attacked using AK-47 and a grenade. OP Singh. Director General of Police said in a press conference the terrorist from the Hizbul Mujahideen group arrested in the city of Kanpur was Qamar-uz-Zama. He is 37 years old and is a resident of Assam.